brake selection
 

I am looking at 3 options for front brakes on my g body. It is a pro- tourer right now, but increasing track use. I have both 17 and 18 inch wheels that i can use. I am using belltech lowering spindles intended for a 2003 2wd blazer with sealed hub bearings.
first option regular non z06 c6 brakes
second option cts-v 4 piston fronts with cts-v rotors
third option i am curious about as i saw a write up on here concerning this method and it was met with controversy- cts-v calipers with c6 or c6 z51 rotors with spindle modification to bring the caliper in closer to the hub to fit the smaller rotors.

My main concern is lock up issues and weight vs benefit. Any opinions would be appreciated.

How extreme do you want to go? If you are wanting to other mods and not wanting to blow your budget, would you consider other options. Where/when and how to you drive your car the most?

There are a ton of options out there!

theres really no budget difference between the 2 believe it or not, i can buy either. i think the main limiting factor is the limited width of front tire i can run. i am just wondering whether or not the ctsv calipers would be too much with the 255 wide tire i run. also im concerned with front to rear brake bias being that i am only running a single piston rear with a 13 inch rotors.

Have you calculated the effective caliper piston area on a 2004-2007 CTS-V 4-piston caliper, it's about 3.6 square inches IIRC, very comparable to a C4 twin-38mm piston caliper, albeit with a staggered 40.5/36.5mm piston diameter design.

The effective piston area of the C6 (twin 40.5mm) and C6 Z06 calipers (33mm) is about 10% larger at 4.0 square inches, so in the case of the C6 Z06 where both would be using 355mm rotors and assuming the same CoF pads, MC bore size, etc, should produce 10% more brake torque for any given pedal effort. You'd offset some of that by stepping down to either the 340mm C6 Z51 or 325mm C6 rotors, but it sounds like you're considering doing the same with the CTS-V calipers as well.

I'm probably biased, but if you're only increasing your track usage, then I would suggest that you go with the largest rotor and caliper combo you can fit inside your wheel and still afford. The simplest would be a C6 or C6 Z51 type of kit. The CTS-V calipers use a pad with a very tall radial height (~60mm) and requires a wide annulus rotor, whereas the C6(Z51) kits use a more conventional medium annulus rotor and pad height (~52mm).

Tobin
KORE3

Thank you for the responses. Please excuse my ignorance with brake selection. To calculate the effective piston area is it piston size squared on a 2 piston caliper? That is my plan to use the largest rotor possible. I have 17" american racing ansen sprints currently. From what i gather c6 rotors are the biggest i can accommodate, i may be wrong and if i am any suggestions are welcome.

The "effective" piston area of a caliper is calculated as the area of all of the pistons in a floating caliper design, or half the pistons in a fixed caliper design. The formula for the area of a circle is A = pi*r^2 where pi = 3.14 and r = radius in whatever units you prefer, typically inches or millimeters.

Maximum rotor size cannot be determined without knowing what caliper you intend to run with it, since the caliper is always larger than the rotor radially, and often axially speaking as well. Most 17" cast wheels will have brake fitment concerns when considering performance brake options.

Tobin
KORE3